Back to school: J-School welcomes the Class of 2017 with new instructors, new initiatives

Fall 2015 marks an exciting time at the J-School. Fifty-three incoming students begin the two-year program with orientation this week, at a time when the school is kicking off new initiatives, introducing new classes, and welcoming nearly a dozen new instructors.

The incoming students are interested in reporting on a vast array of topics, such as sports, humanitarian issues, national security and technology. Some have experience writing for college newspapers, working for public radio stations, or creating their own documentaries. Others have traveled and lived all over the world.

Akira Kumamoto (‘17), who grew up in Long Beach, Calif., and graduated from UC Davis this spring, worked at her student newspaper, the Aggie, for three years, most recently as the arts and culture editor.

She is excited to learn new skills at the J-School such as working a camera, using editing software, and mastering basic coding.

“I have a lot to learn,” she said. “I want to fill up my head with as much as I can and listen to as many wise people at the school as I can.”

Kumamoto is coming to the J-School at an opportune moment, as this year will see an expansion and reorganization of its popular multimedia track.

In the spring, a new seminar-only class called Interactive Narratives will be open to all students, regardless of whether multimedia is their focus.

“We see increasing numbers of students wanting to pursue new media,” said new media lecturer Jeremy Rue. “This way, we can cater to all the people who want at least some kind of rudimentary intro to new media.”

New optional specialized production classes will be offered to complement the seminar. The classes, whose titles are subject to change, are Constructing Online News Packages, Data Journalism, and New Media: Visual Storytelling.

Manjula Varghese (‘17) who has produced social impact documentaries through her own production company, MirrorLake Films, hopes to use multimedia skills gained at the J-School to adapt one of her docs into an interactive experience.

Her goal has always been to give voice to “those who don’t commonly get heard.”

Besides additional new media classes, there are two new instructors and one new lecturer slated to teach new media this fall.

David Cohn, an executive producer for AJ+, Dolly Li, a digital producer for AJ+, and Anna Flagg, a data journalist and interactive producer for AJ+, will teach Advanced Multimedia.

“AJ+ specifically is taking chances and being creative and trying new things,” said Lakshmi Sarah (‘16), who has worked for AJ+ as an intern and as a fill-in producer for the engagement team. Sarah said she thinks it’s beneficial for multimedia students to work with people who do new media on a daily basis.

The school also has new instructors and new offerings in reporting and writing.

As a result of the initiative of two second-year students, Gabriela Arvizu (‘16) and Zainab Khan (‘16), the incoming students will be given in-depth training in equity and inclusion to help their community reporting. The training is supported by a $7500 grant that Arvizu and Khan received from the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Equity & Inclusion.

Incoming first year students will either participate in the two longstanding hyperlocal news reporting classes, Oakland North and Richmond Confidential, or engage in one of two topical classes focused on health and technology.

Yukari Kane, who has nearly 15 years of experience writing about the technology industry, will instruct the new technology topical, while Carl Hall, a long-time daily news reporter at the San Francisco Chronicle, will lead the Richmond Confidential hyperlocal reporting class.

The new students are ready to dive into their assigned sectionals and soak up all the information they can.

Trinity Joseph (‘17), who will report for the heath topical this semester, earned degrees in television, film and media studies from California State University, Los Angeles in 2014. Since graduating, she has worked with a producer to create a documentary about violence in Pasadena, Calif.

Joseph said she’s excited to “grow as a journalist” and “get my hands dirty.”

“UC Berkeley is my dream school,” she said. “I’m so excited to be around so many socially conscious people.”

Two renowned writers will also be joining the J-School’s cadre of instructors this year. Mark Bittman, a food journalist, author, and columnist for The New York Times, will teach a seminar in opinion writing. Rebecca Skloot, science journalist and author of the critically acclaimed nonfiction bestseller “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” will begin teaching long-form writing in spring 2016.

Other new lecturers include Laura Green, a documentary director and editor who will teach video editing. Joshua Johnson, a morning newscaster at KQED, will offer an advanced audio course in podcasting, and Philip Stark, a statistics professor, will teach a course to help student reporters accurately interpret and report on scientific findings.

The incoming class also includes four new international students, who hail from France, Kenya, Mexico, and Spain.

Three of this year’s incoming students have been awarded the Foreign Language and Area Studies Award, which enables U.S. citizens and permanent residents to acquire competence in one or more foreign languages. The scholarship will require him to take a language class and a regional studies class in addition to studying journalism.

One of those students is Levi Bridges (‘17), who has worked as a house painter, a deckhand on a cargo ship, a social worker at a homeless shelter in Maine and an English as a second language teacher.

“I want to develop another regional focus in terms of the reporting I want to do,” he said.

Bridges, who lived in Mexico for much of the last decade, spent his summer taking intensive Russian-language classes at Middlebury College in Vermont.

“I am so excited,” he said. “I feel 100 percent this is the right direction for me to go in.”